Who are you? where y’all from? and what’s your deal? Well, we are Death Valley Darkhorse, (not originally from death valley) but Albury/Wodonga is pretty close. We’re just a bunch of guys who got together sharing the love of playing tunes, we all get a kick out of it, so thats why we do what we do..

How long have you been playing together? I guess it was late September/October 2017 when we really started things off, so we’re just a foal so to speak.

Who plays what instrument? Josh Hamilton on guitars, Mitch Miller on vocals, David McGrath on drums and Phil Scarvell on bass guitars

Describe your sound? Riff heavy, tasty licks, groovy blues based rock and or roll with a with a sprinkling of metal.

How did D.V.D.H come to be? What made you guys wanna get up on stage? Well it was a culmination of Moose (Dave) pestering Hammer (Josh) about jamming together as we’d been good mates for many, many years, that alongside Mitch having lyric lines to work with needing an outlet music wise.. late 2017 saw the end to Chuggwagon a long staying band from wodonga (featuring Josh on guitar and bass) straight off the back of that, Moose and Hammer started jamming some original tracks together. We lay down some tracks for Mitch and he ate ’em up, lyric bases within 10 minutes of throwing something out.. busy with other projects but keen for a slap. Phil enters with an energy that works well, he has played with many musicians.

Describe your sound? Well.. probably heavy hard rock, is all i can say… hell, we’re a few different generations of musicians, we have roots in metal and rock, and all different styles so when we get together its everyone’s contributions to what we do, we play stuff that we have been influenced by and thats the best way to call it, we have some fast, some slow and some in between, what kind of band we are I suppose is up to the punters..

When penning tunes, what comes first, music or lyrics? Usually its the music that comes first, but Mitch has some melodies in his head with lyrics which we’ve been able to come together and pull out some songs, so both, everything starts with an idea from any of us, we work it and roll with it.

So your upcoming gig is your first gig! Nervous? Nervous… hell yeah Undoubtedly, but I think that is what also helps drive the adrenaline, the passion, if you don’t have nerves before you play a show, whether it be to 50 or 500 people, hell yeah, if you don’t get nervous, then you just don’t get it…

Which band’s do you guys listen to? Any favourite local bands? Hell.. we range from old school, to straight up metal, to prog, rock, classical, 70s, 80s, what ever takes your fancy, music is always about the feel and what you take from it… local bands well, As Flesh Decays, Rag of Colts, Idle Fret, All Night Chemist, Ledd Asprin and pretty much any cat who plays a jam.

Thoughts on Albury / Wodonga’s music scene? I tell you what, I’ve seen it grow, boom and die, and resurgence itself, rearing its mighty head over the last few years, rock ain’t dead, it will never die, there’s always gonna be a kid finding a Creedence album somewhere, and having that blow their mind, getting him out to play or support the ongoing locals keeping the good fight alive, we have so many great music fans here, its just tough that times change and we get older, but it will always be with us, as long as we keep doing what we do.

What bands have your members been involved with in the past? Moose and Phil are previous from Phooka, and both being main stays of the local music outfit, and associated with acts as Midnight Alibi, Monday saints. Josh coming from a relatively roadie status with Heathen Ritual, played guitars (bass and guitar) with local outfit Chuggwagon, and Mitch being a singer without an band unto now.

What can punters expect from D.V.D.H? A high energy exciting show! We’re gonna do our best every time, even when we jam, we give what we can give, because of the love of music and passion we have, its fun for us, so we try to make it fun for everyone who wants to listen…

What’s next for you lads? Well another gig for June 10 (queens bday weekend) at The Bended Elbow, we may have an hiatus somewhat with a foal being born in the relatively near future.. but we plan to hit the studio real soon, the songs are coming thick and fast.

You can catch Death Valley Darkhorse this Friday the 4th of May at St Ives Hotel, Wodonga. They’ll be jamming along Melbourne rockers The Ugly Kings, Beggarman, well known local busker Jeremy kerr and local punk/rockers POZER: Doors 7:30pm, $10 entry, strictly 18+ show.